Survey to assess Schenectady's wellness

Door-to-door project aims to address disparities in community health needs

Alysia Sant, Times Union

By Alysia Santo

Published 7:43 pm, Thursday, February 21, 2013

Deb Schimpf, at podium, executive director of Schenectady Community Action Program, addresses those gathered for a press conference at Schenectady City Hall to unveil the UMATTER Schenectady on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 in Schenectady, NY. The campaign will look to identify the unmet health and social needs in the different neighborhoods of the city. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Michael Saccocio, director of the Schenectady City Mission, addresses those gathered for a press conference at Schenectady City Hall to unveil the UMATTER Schenectady on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 in Schenectady, NY. The campaign will look to identify the unmet health and social needs in the different neighborhoods of the city. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Michael Saccocio, director of the Schenectady City Mission,...

James Connolly, center at podium, president and DEO of Ellis Medicine, addresses those gathered for a press conference at Schenectady City Hall to unveil the UMATTER Schenectady on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 in Schenectady, NY. The campaign will look to identify the unmet health and social needs in the different neighborhoods of the city. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

James Connolly, center at podium, president and DEO of Ellis...

Representatives from organizations that serve the residents of Schenectady take part in a press conference at Schenectady City Hall to unveil the UMATTER Schenectady on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 in Schenectady, NY. The campaign will look to identify the unmet health and social needs in the different neighborhoods of the city. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

SCHENECTADY — A group of health workers will begin knocking on the doors of city residents this week to gather information about the factors in their lives that affect health.

The project, called UMatter Schenectady, seeks to identify the needs of specific neighborhoods through face-to-face interviews.

The aim is to visit a different city neighborhood every weekend for 12 weeks and gather a total of 1,500 responses. The findings will be used to build a plan for action to improve the community's health.

The poll, which will be recorded on iPad minis, contains about 150 questions about the medical, social, economic, and emotional factors in people's lives.

At a news conference Thursday, city leaders urged residents to take 30 minutes to do the survey. "This is your chance to set policy in this community," said Karen Johnson, vice chair of the Schenectady County Legislature.

Participants will receive a $10 gift certificate to Price Chopper.

The idea was inspired by a similar initiative in Chicago, which identified how social context influenced health. For example, the survey found asthma levels varied neighborhood by neighborhood, and were highest in areas where there was a low level of trust and community cohesion, which led people to stay inside their apartments and exacerbated symptoms.

"Our approach recognizes that health is holistic," said Joanna Cocozzoli, Schenectady County public health director.

The project was supported by a $100,000 grant from The Schenectady Foundation, which issues grants exclusively to projects serving Schenectady County.

Ellis CEO James Connolly acknowledged that his hospital's involvement in the project may seem counterintuitive, from a business perspective, since it's aimed at keeping people well.

"We're investing time and money into this initiative, which we don't get paid for, in order to keep people out of hospitals, which we do get paid for, so you may wonder, why am I cannibalizing myself?"

He compared the dominant business model of hospitals to auto shops: "It's kind of like selling cars that break down because you know you'll make money on repairs."

But the economics of health care are in a transition, said Connolly, and it's all "driven by the change in reimbursements," which are moving away from fee-for-service models and toward payment based on patient outcomes.

Organizers plan to expand the UMatter surveys into suburban and rural areas of Schenectady county next year.

About half of those conducting the survey are specially trained community health workers, who are getting paid $32 a day, plus $8 a survey, to do this work; the other half are students volunteers from the Leadership in Medicine school at Union College. They will canvass neighborhoods in pairs and be identified by badges with their pictures.

Quashona Cooper, one of the community health workers who will be conducting the surveys, is 23 and has lived in Schenectady for the past 12 years. What she has seen while growing up motivated her to contribute to the project.

"A lot of people I grew up around didn't have health insurance," said Cooper. "People had a lot of stress, a lot of shooting and gang violence going on. So any chance to make a difference, I want to be a part of."